Gene Simmons: ‘I Can’t Sing’

Gene Simmons stopped by a recent edition of CNN's iReport show to field some questions from fans, and the results proved every bit as entertainingly direct as we've come to expect from the Kiss frontman.

As you can see in the short clip at the top of this post, Simmons responded to fans' queries by watching their submitted videos on a tablet and then speaking to the camera -- not really the one-to-one chat that some might have been hoping for, but there still wasn't much of a filter between Gene and his audience. And although a lot of the questions touched on expected subjects, like why Simmons has never touched drugs or alcohol ("There is nothing that I would do ever to break my mother's heart"), there were still a few surprising moments.

One fan reached way back into Simmons' teen years for his question, asking about his past as a young fanzine publisher and inquiring about his motivations for devoting untold hours to writing, drawing, and assembling his 'zines. Obviously impressed by the question, Simmons explained his youthful fascination with sci-fi. "I wanted to create something myself from scratch," he added. "It's like the male version of giving birth."

Asked about backstage routines, Simmons revealed that the members of Kiss have never used makeup artists to pull off their distinctive look. "We physically and literally have put on the makeup every single time," he insisted, saying that the process takes "about two hours" before each show.

Gene did dodge one question, responding to a fan's request to identify one masterpiece in the Kiss catalog by smirking that all of them are. But lest we think Simmons is totally incapable of humility, he did point out at least one shortcoming. "I can't sing," he admitted, lamenting that everyone else in his family can carry a tune. "I've got a long tongue, and that's about it."